If You Search For Imperfections, You'll Find Them
by Fire The Canon
Summary: When Ron and Hermione are called out to Wales to deal with an issue, they don't expect what unfolds afterwards. Warning for child death.


_**Written for Quidditch League Training Camp (write about your OTP dealing with a death. Optional Prompts: (word) accept, (setting) St. Mungo's, (quote) 'If you search from imperfections, you'll find them.' - Jose Enincas**_

 _ **Written for Ollivander's Wand Shop (Dragon Heart String - write about Charlie Weasley)**_

 _ **Written for Ultimate Writer Challenge (write an angsty fic about your OTPP**_

 _ **Written for If You Dare Challenge (153. Dragon's Breath)**_

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 **If You Search For Imperfections, You'll Find Them**

"Potter! Weasley!"

Ron startled from the stupor he'd sunk into over the course of the work day. Auror work had become increasingly boring these past few weeks. With most stray Death Eaters now in prison, and everyone else attempting to get their lives back on track, there wasn't much to do. This past week, Ron and Harry had been called out to only one incident - a kid thinking he was funny and trying to cast the Dark Mark.

John Dawlish stood over their shared desk. "We have a case," he said. "Wales.

"Wales?" Ron said, standing up and stuffing his wand into his pocket. "This should be fun." He turned to Harry, who also looked delighted to be finally doing something. Along with two other experienced Aurors, they left the Ministry, Apparating from the secure location to the coordinates they'd just been provided.

Wales was a shambles.

Muggles, witches and wizards alike were crouched behind signs, hidden behind walls and shrill screams were all that could be heard in the village square they'd Apparated to.

"What in Merlin's name is -"

But Ron needed no further clarification, for as quickly as he'd Apparated here, did he see what had caused such terror.

"Is that -" Harry began, glancing into the sky. "Is that -"

"A Welsh Green," Ron confirmed.

The dragon had taken flight, but was low, its breath causing panic over this tiny village. People screamed as another wave of fire engulfed the largest tavern. People ran from the building.

"Aren't Green's generally placid?" Harry shouted over the screams of the locals. The pair ran to two terrified children cowering behind a rubbish bin.

"Yes," was all Ron said.

A pop sounded behind them, and along came Hermione, along with a few of her other colleagues. She looked at Ron, and then at the dragon, and then at Ron again.

"Hermione!" Ron called, cringing as the dragon's talons grazed Hermione's hair. She ducked just in time, before running to him.

"What's happened?" she asked.

"Dragon's obviously escaped the sanctuary," Ron said. "And causing problems. Quick!" They ducked again as the dragon returned, breathing fire onto another building and sending it up in flames.

There was a shout, and purple sparks flew into the sky. Ron and Hermione whipped around to see Charlie standing only feet behind them with a few of his own colleagues. All had wands pointed to the creature, though it seemed no use.

"She's abandoned her eggs!" Charlie shouted over another roar of fire. "She's left the pack. They can be dangerous like this!"

"Can you get her?" Ron asked, pulling one of the children and Hermione back behind the bin to avoid the dragon.

"We're trying."

This time, the dragon swooped very close to the ground. She'd spotted the dragon keepers and was now after them. All four ducked as her claws came near. Charlie managed to get a scratch on his arm.

The girl Ron had was crying.

"It's okay," Hermione tried to soothe, taking her own wand out.

"Hermione, don't!" Charlie called. "You deal with the people, we've got the dragons."

"Take the girl," Hermione said to Ron, indication the road behind them. "And anyone else you find on the way."

"No, I have to help others," Ron said. "You take her."

"I want my Mummy!"

Hermione looked between them, contemplating. A moment later, she grabbed the girl's hand and started running with her away from the danger. Ron ran the opposite way, searching for more victims.

He'd lost sight of Harry, Dawlish and the other Aurors. The smoke was now so thick he was forced to cast a spell to help him breathe and see.

The dragon keepers were having little luck taming the rogue dragon, until eventually, she went higher into the air and disappeared.

Silence ensued after that. The locals slowly came out of their hiding spots and as the Aurors and other Ministry members distinguished the fires and cleared the smoke, the true destruction became apparent.

Looking around, Ron found his brother Charlie leaning against a wall, out of breath.

"Do you think she's gone?" he asked.

Charlie shook his head, sucking in more air. "I.. don't know." He closed his eyes. "I've never seen a Green so vicious before. She must have some Horntail in her or something."

Ron patted his brother on the shoulder and then looked to the street Hermione had taken the girl. "I might go and find -"

A loud scream sounded from the direction he was looking. A moment later, people appeared, running with terror on their faces.

Charlie and the others stood and ran towards them, one shouting, "She must have moved!"

Ron followed, thinking about Hermione and all the innocent people that were hiding down there. His pace quickened when he didn't see her emerge.

"They're… some… they're dead!" he heard a woman weep as she hurried past Ron.

Ron was running now, panicked. No, Hermione wouldn't let a dragon hurt her - not after all that they'd faced…

"Hermione!" Relief flooded him as he spotted his girlfriend with the girl. The pair were huddled into a corner, against a wall, Hermione holding the girl close. As he approached, he noticed tears streaming down her face.

She was hurt. _At least she's alive._

"Ron," Hermione choked, spotting him. "Ron -"

"Come on, we'll get you to St. Mungo's," Ron said, crouching and offering a hand to her.

She shook her head.

"You're hurt." He saw a large, red claw mark down her arm. It was bleeding, and he was no Healer to help her.

"Ron…"

"Hermione, we need to -"

"RON!" Her abruptness startled him into silence. "The girl. She's… she's…" More tears streamed from her eyes and it was only now that Ron realised the harsh reality of what had happened. The girl was dead.

He didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do. He'd never had this before - not a child as small as this girl.

"It was my fault," Hermione continued, sobbing. "I tried to protect her, but I… I…"

Ron placed a hand on her unhurt arm. "It's okay. Let her go. I'll take her."

Hermione reluctantly placed the unmoving girl into Ron's arm. Both of them stood up. "We'll get you to St. Mungo's and we'll…" It was just as if the girl was sleeping. "And we'll take her too."

Hermione placed a shaking hand into Ron's, and together, they Apparated to the hospital. There were plenty of people there already, some with superficial injuries, others with more severe ones. There were wizards and Muggles alike here, and after this chaos was over, Ron realised the memory department would have a lot of work to do.

A Healer approached them straight away, examining with her eyes the damage that had been caused. She didn't seem too worried about Hermione's injury, it was the girl that caught her attention.

"Is she -"

"Dead," Ron said softly. "Muggle."

The Healer nodded, taking the girl. She had to be no more than five, small and innocent. She would have woken up that day not expecting a _dragon_ to find her.

"Come with me," the Healer than said to Hermione. "We'll get that scratch fixed."

Hermione followed the Healer without so much as a glance at Ron, who now sat in a waiting chair. His clothes were singed and covered in ash, and he had no idea of the whereabouts of Harry or Charlie.

This was a disaster. So much for Auror work being boring.

"Hey."

Ron looked up. It was Dean Thomas, also training to be an Auror, a year behind Ron and Harry. Ron had not seen him at the scene earlier.

"Hey," Ron grunted in return.

"Thought you might want this." He handed Ron a cup of water.

Not realising how thirsty he was, Ron downed it, to which it immediately refilled. He drank another cup.

"It was pretty rough out there, huh?" Dean said, taking a seat beside him. "I've heard they've managed to bring the dragon down, though. Unconscious, of course, not dead. Those dragon keepers really love their dragons regardless of how many people they kill."

Ron could barely ask the question. "How many dead?"

Dean nodded. "A fair few. Mostly Muggles, who weren't convinced it was a _dragon_ they were seeing."

"Harry?"

Dean shrugged, but upon seeing Ron's expression, said, "Alive as of five minutes ago."

Ron nodded, relieved. A moment later, Hermione came back, her arm completely healed. She smiled, but it was a pained smile.

"Hey, Dean," she said.

Neither Ron or Dean said anything for a while. It was difficult.

It was Hermione who spoke again. "The girl… she said her name was Catherine."

"That's a nice name," Ron said.

And then it all came piling out, and Ron didn't try to stop her. There was grief there, losing someone Hermione hadn't even known.

"I should have done something more, but I turned away from her for one moment, because I heard another girl screaming. I told her to stay hidden as I moved to help, but she followed me… I didn't notice, and the dragon came, and the fire… it was everywhere. I lost sight of her as I ducked for cover. When the smoke cleared…" There were more tears. "I saw her. The talons had punctured her chest and I… it was my fault."

Ron got to his feet, drawing her towards him and allowing her to cry into his chest. "You can't think of what you should have done," he said. "It's not your fault."

"It is!" Hermione said.

"You did what was right at the time, and that's enough. If you keep thinking about everything that went wrong, it'll be never ending. We lost her, Hermione, but…"

She pulled away, looking up at him. "But what?"

He shook his head, knowing that what he was going to say next would sound bad no matter how he said it. "But, you need to accept it. We can't bring her back."

Hermione closed her eyes, taking some deep breaths in. When she opened them again, she seemed a lot calmer. "I'll never forget this, Ron," she said. "I can't."

He nodded.

"I lost a child, and that's… that's hard to deal with."

He nodded again.

"Can we go home?"

He nodded for a third time, taking her hand and squeezing it. It would take time for her to come to terms with this loss, but eventually she would. Eventually, Hermione would realise that what happened was a horrible, terrible accident and would forgive herself.

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 _ **I hope you enjoyed reading this! Thank you to Bex for beta-ing for me :D**_


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